Austrian Netherlands 1764(a)R 1/2 souverain d'or Fr-136
This specimen was lot 1611 in Jean Elsen sale 145 (Brussels, September 2020), where it sold for €3,400 (about US$4,845 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"BRABANT, Duché, Marie-Thérèse (1740-1780), AV souverain, 1764, Bruxelles. Deuxième type. D/ B. couronné à d. R/ Ecu ovale d'Autriche-Bourgogne, couronné, sur une croix de Bourgogne. Rare. Superbe. Provient de notre vente 62, 24 juin 2000, 1072. (duchy of Brabant, Maria Theresia, 1740-80, gold souverain of 1764, Brussels mint, second type. Obverse: crowned bust right; reverse: crowned oval arms of Austria and Burgundy over a Burgundian cross. Rare, Extremely Fine.)"
The SCWC catalogs this as a half souverain d'or, as is clear by the weight. This subtype was struck 1764-65. The "(a)" in the page title refers to the angel face mintmark on the reverse, signifying Brussels; a lion was used for Bruges and a hand for Antwerp. On the death of Charles VI in 1740, the redoubtable Maria Theresia was crowned Archduchess of Austria and queen of Hungary but, being a woman, could not be given the imperial crown. Therefore, after much wrangling and a war fomented by Frederick the Great of Prussia, her husband Francis of Lorraine was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 1745.
Reported Mintage: 38,000.
Specification: 5.53 g, 0.919 fine gold, this specimen 5,52 g.
Catalog reference: KM 17, Fr-136, W. 1136; Delm-217; V.H. 810.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- Delmonte, A., Le Bénélux D'or, Amsterdam: Jacques Schulman N.V., 1964, with supplements to 1977.
- [1]Elsen, Philippe, et al., Vente Publique 145, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2020.
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